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An update has emerged on Leicester central defender Wesley Fofana, regarding Real Madrid’s interest in his services. 

What’s the talk?

According to reports in Spain, as relayed by the Leicester Mercury, Real Madrid are considering a move for Leicester centre-back Wesley Fofana this summer. Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane are both expected to depart the Spanish giants and Carlo Ancelotti has identified the former St Etienne powerhouse as a potential target.

Fofana joined Leicester from the Ligue 1 outfit around this time last year in a transfer said to be worth £30m. He signed a five-year contract with the club, with four years still left to run on his current deal.

Rodgers would be fuming

Leicester’s director of football Jon Rudkin must avoid making a grave error with Fofana in the coming months.

He needs to reject interest from Real Madrid, and any other potential suitors, to keep the defender at the club as he is an integral member of Brendan Rodgers’ squad and could be key to competing for a Champions League spot again next season.

Back in November of last year, Rodgers lavished praise on the youngster, describing him as “colossal” despite his age and lauding his qualities as a defender.

He told talkSPORT:

“We knew he was a top player for someone so young, and when we spoke to people out there and seeing all the clips, you could see he has anticipation as a defender, he has speed, he has aggression, he defends forward, so all the attributes we like here.

“I think the surprising thing is that if you look at the seven games he’s played and the level of the teams we’ve played, and the consistent run of games, how he’s coped with that. He’s absolutely colossal for a young guy.”

This highlights how highly the Foxes head coach rates the central defender and why selling him now would be a gigantic mistake by Rudkin.

The chief needs to do everything in his power to keep Fofana at the club heading into next season, or else it could leave Rodgers seething. Losing an important player is never ideal and the ex-Liverpool boss would be fuming if he has to deal with the departure of the Frenchman.

The £51k-per-week beast enjoyed a fantastic debut season in England with the Foxes. He averaged a sublime WhoScored rating of 7.01 across 34 appearances in the Premier League and Europa League, whilst also playing four times as Leicester won the FA Cup. Domestically, Fofana averaged 2.2 interceptions and 1.8 tackles, whilst also making 3.3 clearances per game, which further emphasises the point that he is a defensive wall for the club.

AND in other news, Leicester given major boost over “immense” £110k-p/w magician, Rodgers will be buzzing…

Reliable Aston Villa reporter Ashley Preece revealed on Thursday that winger Bertrand Traore is back training at Bodymoor Heath.

And, as to be expected, his update had a number of Villa fans talking on social media.

The 26-year-old is yet to feature under new boss Steven Gerrard after missing the last three months due to a thigh problem. It hasn’t been the best of years for Traore, who also had to have surgery on a groin issue over the summer.

However, he’s now back in training and has since been named in Burkina Faso’s squad for the Africa Cup of Nations, which is scheduled to get underway next month.

Although his wait for an appearance under Gerrard may go on, plenty of Villa fans were buzzing at the news of the winger’s return days before the Boxing Day fixture with Chelsea.

Before his injury troubles the former Blues man was in fine form, registering seven league goals and six assists last season, so it’s no surprise to see supporters delighted by this news.

Villa fans react

This is what these fans had to say in reply after The AVFC Faithful shared Preece’s update on Twitter, with one labelling Traore as a ‘huge miss’.

“Early Xmas present”

Credit: @BillyWhiz

“I’m in tears. The Burkina Faso king returns”

Credit: @Jtavfc2000

“Thank god, huge miss”

Credit: @Davidomahony18

“Return of the king”

Credit: @PhilipKeenan12

“Suiiiiiii”

Credit: @AttwoodOlly

“GET IN BERT!!!!!”

Credit: @AvfcRegan

In other news: Lange makes Aston Villa enquiry to sign ‘top’ midfielder in January; club have already responded. 

Aston Villa have seen many players walk through the door at Villa Park over the years, either on loan or permanent deals.

However, as tends to be the case with most clubs, not all transfer deals that take place end up being particularly successful or worthwhile.

One questionable transfer that took place at the Midlands club was their 2015 move for striker Rudy Gestede.

During the 2015 summer transfer window, under the management of Tim Sherwood, the Villans secured a deal to bring the striker to Villa Park from Blackburn Rovers for a fee of £6m.

Having been described as a “menacing” figure on the pitch by Sherwood, the Benin international was anything but that for his side, finding the back of the net only five times in 32 Premier League appearances throughout the 2015/16 campaign.

Also, despite appearing in the majority of their league games, the attacker could only rack up 18 shots on target in total, which is fewer than the number of fouls (24) he committed, meaning he was more of a liability for his side than a capable attacking threat.

With fewer goals scored (27) than any other side in the top flight that season, Villa eventually found themselves at the bottom of the league table and destined for the second division.

After Villa’s relegation at the end of Gestede’s debut campaign with the Villans, things didn’t get much better for him in the Championship either.

In 18 appearances, the centre-forward only scored four goals before joining Middlesbrough in the 2017 January transfer window, bringing an end to his uninspiring time as a Villa player after just 523 days.

Even with his lack of regular goals at the Midlands club, it seemed as though they were right to let him go when they did, as the striker only managed to bag eight times in 71 appearances for Boro following his exit from Villa Park.

Taking all of this into account, it’s safe to say that Sherwood had a shocker by bringing Gestede to Villa, who ultimately wasted a total fee of £8.1m from his transfer fee and £28k-per-week wages by having him on their books for as long as they did.

In other news: Gerrard can now axe awful flop as AVFC eye bid for £50m gem with “bundles of ability”

Flocking to Twitter, many Wolverhampton Wanderers fans have erupted in delight over what their club has now done.

Bruno Lage’s side, slowly turning things around after a lacklustre start to the new season, currently sit 10th in the Premier League table and are enjoying a steady climb.

Having just beat Midlands rivals Aston Villa in epic fashion, they’ve made that victory their third on the trot and fourth in their last five English top flight matches (wolves.co.uk).

If Wolves continue in this vain, it’s safe to say things could be looking up, but supporters have actually grown more excited by something the club and players have now done off the field.

Dropping an official club post, Wolves have revealed they held a basic life support Compton training session at the request of players – an initiative which has attracted much applause on social media.

Overjoyed with the awareness their club has now spread over an extremely important issue, Wolves supporters held no shortage of praise for their side.

Find all of their best reactions down below.

Wolves fans erupt over official message

“Another reason to love this club. The players actually care.”

Credit: @EireMac76

“That’s my club”

Credit: @bo88om

“Top class”

Credit: @adwwfc

“Amazing!”

Credit: @Wrightgal80

“This is fantastic”

Credit: @PooraSingh

“God I love this team so much”

Credit: @Miss_Griff89

“Incredible work by all involved.”

Credit: @Lem_WWFC

Tottenham Hotspur have suffered a major blow in their pursuit of RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol.

The Lowdown: Spurs linked with Gvardiol

According to The Athletic, Spurs will prioritise a left-sided centre-back in the summer window. As a result, they have named Inter Milan’s Alessandro Bastoni and Gvardiol as the options currently topping their shopping list.

The Athletic claim that Tottenham would likely have to pay, at a minimum, as much as the £42m they spent on signing Cristian Romero last summer, due to the 20-year-old being one of the most in-demand young defenders across Europe.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/tottenham-latest-news-copy/” title=”Tottenham latest developments!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Latest: Spurs suffer Gvardiol blow

According to RB Live (via SportWitness), it is ‘extremely unlikely’ that Fabio Paratici will have a ‘good chance’ of signing the Croatia international, given that he has ‘no reason’ to leave Leipzig.

In a previous interview with Bild (via Sport Witness) earlier this year, Gvardiol claimed that he was ‘not really making any plans’ regarding a summer transfer.

RB Live also stated that the Bundesliga side would ‘hardly let’ their ‘defensive jewel’ leave in the summer, despite reports suggesting a €50m (£42m) price tag.

The Verdict: Look at other options

Whilst the 20-year-old Croatian may be one of the hottest prospects in Europe, it appears that a transfer away from Leipzig seems highly unlikely in the near future. Therefore, Spurs should look elsewhere for a more imminent defensive addition.

Linked with the likes of Bastoni, it is imperative that Paratici secures a left-sided defender in the summer. This would free up left-back Ben Davies, who has been utilised as a makeshift central defender, who would then provide Antonio Conte with further depth at wing-back.

It would ultimately solve two transfer needs in one for Tottenham.

In other news: Paul Robinson makes Harry Winks exit claim

Celtic will receive a £2m windfall for the transfer of Ryan Christie if Bournemouth win promotion to the Premier League, according to The Sun, cited by 67 Hail Hail.  

The Lowdown: Deadline Day business

The Hoops had a busy final day of the summer window, with three incomings and three outgoings.

Christie was one of those to leave, with the Cherries paying an initial £2.5m for the attacking midfielder.

Striker Giorgos Giakoumakis was the last permanent addition to Ange Postecoglou’s squad, costing just over £2m, and it appears as if that could be paid for thanks to Christie by next summer.

The Latest: Add-on details emerge

The Sun on Sunday, cited by 67 Hail Hail, claim that Celtic will receive a further £2m if Bournemouth win promotion.

They could then land even more if they stay up in a potential 2022/23 Premier League campaign.

The Verdict: Shrewd move

Christie was out of contract at Celtic Park in January, so bringing in an initial £2.5m in the summer was good business.

It seems as if it could get even better over the next seven months, which could, in theory, mean the Hoops’ move for Giakoumakis is all but paid for due to add-ons in Christie’s transfer.

All in all, it looks like a shrewd move by the Hoops hierarchy, who will more than likely be hoping Bournemouth can stay top of the Championship until May.

In other news: Celtic are considering boss with similar style to Ange; he played golf with Desmond last week. 

Joining Everton would be a good step for Manchester United midfielder Jesse Lingard, according to former Toffees striker Marcus Bent.

With just under one year left on his current Old Trafford deal, there has been much speculation surrounding Lingard’s future this summer, with a host of clubs reportedly interested in his signature.

One of those clubs was West Ham, but Sky Sports have recently reported that the Hammers now only believe they have a 10 percent chance of signing the England international.

Lingard was on loan at the London Stadium for the second half of last season, scoring nine goals and providing five assists.

With West Ham only giving themselves a small chance of re-signing Lingard, Marcus Bent thinks Everton should look to swoop in for his signature, exclusively telling Football FanCast: “If you look at it, he’s been on loan at West Ham and he’s done really well.

“I think at the moment, I don’t think he’s going to be number one, number two at Man United, so for a big club like Everton I think that would be a good basis where he can go and make his career.”

A Tottenham Hotspur insider has shed some light on rumours of Gareth Bale potentially returning to Spurs in the January transfer window.

The Lowdown: Conte wants Bale

According to journalist Eduardo Inda, Antonio Conte has asked for the North London club to sign Bale once more in the winter.

Of course, he was with the Lilywhites on loan last season, and managed to score 16 goals and make a further three assists in 34 games in total over all competitions (Transfermarkt).

Bale ended up as their third-highest scorer behind only Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min, and so it is not a surprise that Conte would like him to return once more, given that THFC are currently the Premier League’s second-lowest scorers with just nine goals in 11 games so far.

The Latest: Insider sheds light

Speaking to Football Insider, Tottenham insider John Wenham, who regularly breaks news about Spurs on his Lilywhite Rose social media channels, has shed some light on the rumours of Bale’s potential return, and thinks that he would be a ‘brilliant’ signing in January:

“The stats speak for themselves.

“I have seen some ridiculous statements that joked Bale was using Tottenham as a gym ahead of the Euros.

“Actually, he scored 11 league goals in very minimal playing time. He scored the same amount of league goals as Aubameyang and Mane.

“He scored more than Antonio and Firmino and he barely played.

“People were asking what he did in the cups, he didn’t play. Mourinho, for whatever reason, did not play him.

“He then had a real purple patch under Mason and scored a brace on the last day of the season, a result that earned us European football over Arsenal.

“I had hopes we were going to extend his loan after last season because I think we have missed his goals.

“Would I welcome him back? Absolutely, he’s a Tottenham legend. He ticks a lot of boxes. It would be brilliant.

“I hope we look at that. However, Alasdair Gold said there was basically nothing in it, so at the moment I think it’s just a rumour.”

The Verdict: Bring him back

Bale’s impact in North London during his loan spell last term is nothing to be sniffed at, and there is no doubt that he can make the same impact again.

Of course, he is 32 years of age now, but is still playing at the highest level with Real Madrid.

Nonetheless, as Wenham puts it, he is simply a legend at the Lilywhites, being part of the team that won the League Cup in 2008 and winning Player of the Year in the 2012/13 campaign (Transfermarkt), and would thus be a signing that would help get the fans onside during what could be a potentially tricky next few months.

In other news, find out what transfer boost Conte has been gifted here!

The previous summer transfer window was a fairly busy one for Liverpool in terms of moving certain players out of the club, either on permanent or temporary deals, with Ibrahima Konate being the only new face to join the Merseyside club.

One player that moved away from Anfield over the summer on a loan deal was 26-year-old defender Ben Davies, who joined Championship side Sheffield United on a loan deal until the end of the season after not making even one appearance for the Reds since he joined in the previous January transfer window from Preston North End.

Back to the present, it seems as though Liverpool will have another decision to make in the summer when it comes to Davies’ next step.

What’s the news?

It has recently been reported by The Star that the outcast is likely to rejoin Liverpool in the summer when his current loan deal ends, with the Blades apparently not interested in signing Davies, who was picking up a weekly wage of £60k-per-week last season according to Spotrac, on a permanent basis.

With this in mind and the fact that Liverpool currently have five centre-backs in their squad at the moment, with three of them being younger than Davies, it would be in the club’s and Davies’ best option if he were to leave Liverpool on a permanent basis in the summer when he returns from his current loan deal if he isn’t likely to get much playing time at Anfield under Jurgen Klopp, which seems like it could be the case moving forward.

Given his lack of game time last season for Liverpool and the fact that they shipped him out on loan last summer, it does seem strange they the Merseyside club signed the defender on a lengthy contract that isn’t set to expire until 2025, even though Paul Carden, who Davies played under at Southport earlier in his career, called him “different class” upon his arrival at Anfield.

During his time with the Blades, Davies has made 10 appearances for them in the Championship, completing the full 90 minutes in all but one of them, showing that he has been getting a decent number of minutes under his belt this season, which will be good for his chances of another club potentially coming in to sign him in the summer on a permanent basis so he can bring an end to his Liverpool nightmare.

In other news: Forget VVD: “Influential” LFC ace with 1.5 tackles a game has been Klopp’s unsung hero – opinion

Sheffield United have enquired about the availability of Liverpool centre-back Ben Davies, according to Football Insider.

The lowdown

Liverpool paid £2million to sign Davies from Preston North End in January amid a centre-back injury crisis.

Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Joel Matip and even makeshift option Fabinho were all sidelined at the time.

But the 25-year-old didn’t play a single minute before the end of the season, with Ozan Kabak, Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams preferred.

In fact, Davies only featured in the matchday squad for four Premier League fixtures.

Liverpool fans were finally given a look at him in their recent pre-season mini-game against Austrian side FC Wacker Innsbruck.

The latest

A Sheffield United source tells Football Insider that the Blades want to sign a ‘proven centre-back’ and have made an approach for Davies.

Liverpool are said to be open to selling the Englishman just six months on from his arrival.

Intriguingly, the Blades were apparently keen on recruiting Davies from Deepdale in the January transfer window.

The verdict

Davies’ total lack of involvement suggests he was brought in simply to make up the numbers in a time of crisis, rather than take up a squad role going forward.

And from a business point of view, it made sense. Davies only had six months left on his Preston deal when Liverpool snapped him up, but now he’s under contract for another four years. That should enable the Reds to turn a healthy profit.

Their efforts to raise funds by offloading peripheral players are progressing nicely. Another player unlikely to get a look-in – Harry Wilson – is poised to join Fulham for around £10million.

In other news, fans were left fuming as an old transfer target resurfaced.